In this respect, it is usually desired that comparative investigations are carried out on living cell cultures to be able to make corresponding statements on the effects of cell-influencing media. It is accordingly necessary that the cell cultures influenced in different manners are otherwise cultivated under the same conditions so that different influences acting on cell cultures can be precluded.
A method and an apparatus are thus known from EP 0 394 406 B1 for the detection of an effect of a cell-influencing medium on living cells in which a microflow chamber in which living cells are cultivated is flowed through by solutions or suspensions which contain a cell-influencing medium. In this respect, however, all the living cells contained in the microflow chamber are influenced by the cell-influencing medium so that, for a comparative investigation, at least one second microflow chamber must always be present in which an investigation can take place without the influence of a cell-influencing medium. It is, however, problematic by the use of two such mutually separate microflow chambers to be able to maintain the desired same conditions for the cell investigations. There is moreover no possibility in this known technical solution to carry out an investigation with respect to interactions on cells caused by cell-influencing media and also to carry out the recognition of a forwarding of a stimulus from cells influenced by the cell-influencing medium to cells not influenced by these media.
The last-named aspect is, however, also problematic in the apparatus for the carrying out of investigations on cell cultures described in DE 199 20 811 B4. In this known apparatus, a trough-shaped receptacle should be used in which a cell culture in a liquid culture medium is contained at the base side. A part space can be separated off the remaining part as a reaction space by a separator which is inserted into the receptacle and which can be introduced down to the base of the receptacle. In such a reaction space, cell-influencing media can then act on the cells arranged there, whereas another region of the receptacle cannot be influenced by such media.
On the introduction of such a separator which can be formed in the manner of a ram, leaks can, however, occur so that a cell-influencing medium can be discharged from the reaction space and can enter into the other part of the receptacle.
If, however, a separator is introduced so that a complete closure of a reaction space occurs, the forwarding of information and/or stimuli within a cell culture completely contained in a receptacle cannot be investigated. This situation in particular affects the forwarding of information and/or stimuli between cells influenced by a medium to cells not influenced by the medium.